THE MUSTERING DRUM (DRUM VUSHTA)

No examples have survived of the Crosh Vushta or of the Drum Vushta, which was the more usual and convenient method of calling the parishes to arms. Its disadvantage was that some men found drumming so enjoyable that they roused the neighbourhood at times when there was no emergency. The evening congregation in Ballaugh (old) church was once so disturbed in 1715, but, on enquiry, it was found that it was the Sulby drum that was being beaten. It is understandable that Sulby would require a very large drum to send its message from Snaefell almost to Sandygate. The episode also serves as a reminder that, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Lezayre was the only parish ever to have North and South divisions, each with its own Captain.

Acknowledgement
The research on this website was originally undertaken by the late Constance Radcliffe and published by the Manx Heritage Foundation in 1997 as a book.